Poker Room Reopens at Bremerton Lanes

The Bremerton Lanes Poker Room has reopened after closing in May, and 19 people have been hired to run it.

Now, poker manager Mike Dumont is scrambling to lure back customers who since may have found better luck at the area’s other card rooms: Chips Casino in East Bremerton, All-Star Lanes in Silverdale and the Suquamish Clearwater Casino.

“My goal and my job is to get these people coming back here,” Dumont said after playing a few hands himself Thursday at the poker room off Bruenn Avenue.

Dumont said the Bremerton Lanes Poker Room had a base of 1,350 players when it closed.

The Bremerton Lanes casino shut down along with the card room last spring, a result of the recession. There are no current plans to reopen the casino.

The Bremerton Lanes Poker Room wasn’t alone in its misery.

Across the state, commercial card rooms’ gross receipts peaked in 2005 at $308 million, but by 2009 had fallen to $259 million, according to the Washington State Gambling Commission.

Dumont said the reopening of the poker room hinged on the Bremerton City Council lowering the tax rate on some card games, including poker, from 20 percent to 10 percent.

That happened last month.

“And we did it so they could reopen and get some people re-employed,” said Council President Nick Wofford.

Dumont said he figures city leaders decided it was better to get a smaller amount of revenue from the poker room than none at all.

Dumont’s holding off hiring more employees until business builds up, which could take months.

“It’s just going to be a slow thing going,” said Dumont, a lifelong Bremerton resident who helped open Chips and who owned a nursery in Manette.

The card room is open from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week, with tournaments every day.

Dumont said for the players, it’s not just about poker, but about having time with friends.

“It’s a very social game,” he said.

On Thursday, one table was in play. The men playing were dividing their attention between the cards and women’s golf on a big-screen television.

The rest of the premises were open but empty on a sunny afternoon, including the lanes, and a café and lounge.